OpenResearch

What OpenResearch does

OpenResearch (legal entity: Open Research Lab, Inc.) is a San Francisco-based nonprofit research organization founded in 2019 that designs and operates large-scale, mixed-methods studies on open-ended economic and societal questions. Its flagship product, the Unconditional Cash Study, is a three-year randomized controlled trial that provided $1,000 per month to 1,000 low-income adults and $50 per month to 2,000 control participants across Texas and Illinois, generating longitudinal survey, administrative, and qualitative interview data. The lab's underlying technology combines RCT architecture, adaptive survey instruments, AI-assisted qualitative analysis, and conversational AI surveys to capture complexity in participants' lives, and it has released a public dataset from the study along with 29+ published findings on parenting, health, employment, entrepreneurship, housing, finances, and political attitudes.

The organization operates three core research programs: the Unconditional Cash Study, the RISE Study (rural economic resilience), and the Whose AI? Study (AI access and equity), plus a public dataset product. OpenResearch does not charge for participation or for its research outputs; instead, it is funded by philanthropic donations and research grants, with $60 million raised in 2019 (including $14 million from Sam Altman) for the flagship study. Its primary constituents are study participants (low-income adults and families, ages 21-40) and its secondary audience is federal and state policymakers, particularly those weighing cash-transfer policies such as the expanded Child Tax Credit. Distribution is via freely accessible website publications, NBER working papers, direct policymaker engagement, and earned media, and the lab is led by Research Director Elizabeth Rhodes with a 11-50 person team.

Name

OpenResearch

Legal name

Open Research Lab, Inc.

Website

https://openresearchlab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OpenResearch is a San Francisco nonprofit research lab that runs large-scale randomized controlled trials and mixed-methods studies on open-ended economic and societal questions, serving policymakers and low-income study participants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Policy Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Nonprofit research
• Randomized controlled trials
• Policy research
• Social science research
• Economic mobility research

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations: The organization accepts donations from individuals and organizations to support research efforts. Contact for potential gifts is [email protected]
2. Research Grants and Funding: The organization conducts research projects and provides funding to study complex societal and technological questions. Funded by major philanthropists including Sam Altman's $14 million personal investment in the Unconditional Cash Study

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OpenResearch designs and operates large-scale, mixed-methods research programs that test economic and technological interventions, including a three-year randomized controlled trial of unconditional cash transfers to 3,000 participants. It produces peer-reviewed findings, working papers, public datasets, and policy perspectives intended for policymakers, researchers, and the public.

Product overview

OpenResearch is a nonprofit research organization with a startup mentality that operationalizes complex research projects to test ideas, evaluate tools, and generate new data on emerging societal challenges. The organization runs three primary research programs: the Unconditional Cash Study (a large-scale RCT testing unconditional cash transfers), the RISE Study (examining rural economic resilience), and the Whose AI? Study (exploring AI tool access and equity). These programs produce datasets, qualitative insights, and policy recommendations through mixed-methods research combining surveys, administrative data, and in-depth interviews. OpenResearch also produces findings publications covering employment, health, financial health, entrepreneurship, parenting, housing, and political attitudes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Unconditional Cash Study A three-year randomized controlled trial providing monthly cash transfers to 3,000 low-income adults ages 21-40 in Texas and Illinois to study the effects of unconditional cash on financial health, employment, parenting, health, housing, and other outcomes.
• RISE (Rural Inclusion and Social Equity) Study A mixed-methods study examining economic stability and opportunity in rural communities, using cash transfers as a lens to understand conditions shaping economic resilience and upward mobility in rural America.
• Whose AI? Study Research exploring whether access to AI tools, paired with education, can help reduce divides, expand access to the benefits of emerging technology, and open new pathways to participation and shared prosperity.
• Unconditional Cash Study Public Dataset A publicly available dataset from the Unconditional Cash Study allowing external researchers to analyze and replicate findings from the three-year cash transfer research program.

Quantifiable outcome

• Recipients showed 6% reduction in average stress scores, with lowest-income parents showing 31% reduction in high stress likelihood
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly operates large-scale unconditional cash transfer programs globally and conducts rigorous RCTs on their impacts. It is the most directly comparable organization to OpenResearch given overlapping focus on UBI-style interventions and evidence generation, though GiveDirectly operates internationally while OpenResearch is U.S.-focused.
• Economic Security Project: Economic Security Project is a philanthropic and advocacy organization focused on cash transfers, guaranteed income, and economic security policy. It is directly comparable to OpenResearch given shared advocacy-research positioning on UBI, though it leans more toward movement-building while OpenResearch is research-first.
• Center for Guaranteed Income Research: CGIR at the University of Pennsylvania studies the health and economic effects of guaranteed income pilots. It is directly comparable to OpenResearch's Unconditional Cash Study, with overlapping RCT methodology, target population, and policy translation goals, though it is university-affiliated.
• Stanford Basic Income Lab: Stanford's Basic Income Lab conducts research and policy engagement on guaranteed income, cash transfers, and economic security. It overlaps directly with OpenResearch's UBI research and policy-translation mission, though it operates within an academic university setting rather than as an independent nonprofit lab.

Broad incumbents

• J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab): J-PAL is a global leader in randomized evaluations on poverty, including cash transfers and economic inclusion programs. It shares OpenResearch's RCT methodology and policy-evidence mission but operates across many more geographies and domains with a much larger affiliated researcher network.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a broad, established research institution conducting policy research across economics, social policy, and technology. It is comparable to OpenResearch in producing rigorous evidence for public decision-making, though its scope is much wider and it operates globally.
• MDRC: MDRC is a long-established nonprofit social policy research organization running large-scale evaluations of programs for low-income populations. It is comparable to OpenResearch in mission and rigor but operates at significantly larger scale and broader program scope.
• Urban Institute: Urban Institute is a major economic and social policy research nonprofit studying poverty, housing, health, and economic mobility. It shares OpenResearch's evidence-to-policy orientation and topical overlap (cash transfers, economic mobility) but at significantly larger institutional scale.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Mathematica conducts rigorous social policy research and evaluation for federal and state agencies. It overlaps with OpenResearch in evidence-based policy research, though its portfolio is much broader and it operates primarily as a government contractor rather than a privately funded research lab.

Emerging players

• Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan: University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions initiative conducts applied research on economic mobility, cash assistance, and anti-poverty policy. It overlaps with OpenResearch's cash-transfer and poverty-research focus but is housed within a public university rather than operating as an independent nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/openresearchlab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about OpenResearch